The Christmas Party
by yugifrozenfan
Summary: Zarc/Ray story. It's Christmastime and Zarc is trying to find a present for Ray in time for the annual Christmas party.


**AN: I'm back again with another Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V story. This time, centered around the holiday season about what to get when one goes for last minute holiday shopping. Dub Names Apply. Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V is owned by NAS, TV Tokyo & 4K Media Inc. and any references to existing works are owned by the original makers of the brand (ie: Moana is owned by Walt Disney Animation Studios)**

Zarc sighed. How did he end up in this predicament, you might ask? Well, considering the man had multiple exhibition matches, it left him very little time to actually go Christmas shopping, particularly when the voices in his head insisted he had to get gifts for Ray's counterparts as well. "Why?" he had asked.

"Uh, we would but considering we're practically ghosts outside of your head, we really can't", they stated. Surprisingly, even Yuri was, for the most part, trying to behave himself during the holidays, except for trying to slug Yugo for going into his space without permission. That's the one rule about having "roommates": Each one was entitled to his own personal space and belongings, although when you embody aspects of the same person, well, that's different. Either way, the shopping list went like this:

Ray: ineligible due to trying to write it fast

Rin: Riding gear

Zuzu: An engagement ring

Celina: ineligible

Ruri: A stuffed version of Yuto's dragon (Zarc had to chuckle at that one, considering all of them were well past the doll age)

Needless to say, he was able to get what to get. Finally, he asked Yuya why he wanted to get Zuzu an engagement ring for Christmas. Yuya just blushed and nothing was brought up of it. However, he then got the dreaded phone call.

"Hello?"

"Zarcy! So, you coming to the party?"

"Um, well, yes and no." He could swear he heard Ray's mouth drop over the phone.

"Why?"

"I said I was coming but I MIGHT be fashionably late", he stated, tripping over his choice of words. He hated the fact that Ray was the only person able to make him stumble over his words and grammar.

"HOW fashionably late?"

"Say, like an hour."

"You've got an hour to show up", she said and hung up. Zarc did so as well. Needless to say, Ray basically told him to show up at the party in an hour with her present. Only one problem, she had what she wanted on there but he couldn't read it. M and the rest was just scribbles as Ray wrote it out pretty dang quickly. Finally, he swallowed his pride.

"Any of you guys know what M is?" he asked his counterparts. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his or Yuya's head.

"Would it have an O in front of said M?" Yuya asked. Zarc suddenly got it. Him & Ray went and saw the movie over Thanksgiving break. How could he have been so stupid?

"MOANA! I CAN'T BELIEVE I MISSED IT!" he said, smacking his forehead. "AND I WAS JUST IN THE DANG STORE TOO!" he muttered loudly, turned on his heels and walked, more like ran, back to the store and to the place where they kept the merch related to the film. To save face, he snagged two dolls of the titular character, one for Ray, obviously and assuming that Celina would want the same thing, he snagged another one. Checking his watch, he noticed he still had a few more minutes left until he was due at the party. He could either (A. get some more stuff or (B. swallow his pride and just show up with the cheesy gifts but A wasn't an option, why? Because his wallet was crying. So, he swallowed his pride and headed down to where the party would be held, slinging the sack of gifts over his back like Santa Claus. When he reached the door, he knocked three times.

"I'll Get It!" Ray's voice called from inside as the doorknob turned. "Zarcy! You made it!" she exclaimed happily as she stuck a Santa hat on his head but the instant she had her back turned, he yanked it off. Unfortunately for him, Celina saw this and tried to stick the hat back on his head but failed because Zarc was two inches taller than her. She had no chance at all. Finally, a compromise was reached: He wouldn't have to wear the hat UNTIL the gift exchange. Setting the gifts down in front of the tree, he was approached by Leo Akaba.

"Sit down", he said and Zarc, knowing he was in no position to snark or mouth off to him, sat down. Satisfied with this, Leo continued, "You know, personally, I really don't like you, but for Ray's sake, I'm willing to be at least civil with you", he stated. Zarc gulped. All his previous exploits' parents weren't as brutally honest as Leo, as he was basically saying "Be nice to Ray and I'll be nice to you. Harm her even a little bit, and you lost my respect."

"Yes, sir." he said

"Good", Leo then got up and went to sample some egg nog, leaving Zarc and his counterparts to process exactly WHAT just happened. For a while, he just remained in that spot until the couch shifted, meaning Ray was sitting down next to him.

"Zarc, you okay?" she asked.

"Well, yes and no", he said.

"Why not?"

"Because your father was brutally honest with me, saying that he doesn't like me personally but is willing to be civil with me just because I'm dating you", he stated.

"Trust me, he's always like that when it comes to me and my dating life. He always convinced himself he personally didn't like whomever I was dating. Sometimes, he was legitimate about my suitors but most of the time, he was mostly trying to convince himself that some of them had flaws", she stated. Zarc looked at her. Sure, he did destroy the world and indirectly killed his daughter so Leo still had a legitimate reason to hate him. Even the two announcing that they were dating did little to curb Leo's hatred for the man and in fairness, some of it was justified, the rest? Irrational. He looked at the Moana doll he brought with him.

"What do you think? I have a good shot at winning over Leo?" he asked the doll. The doll responded with, not surprisingly, nothing at all. "That's what I was thinking as well. Probably not", he stated, more to himself than to the doll. He got up and helped himself to the buffet table.

Next, it was time for the gift exchange. Mostly, everyone liked their gifts. Leo, obviously, gave Ray something that symbolized their bond as father and daughter, Zuzu ended the evening engaged although what that met to Zarc & Ray, it was something that Yuya didn't even consider, Celina thought the doll was "cute" per say but it was nothing special than a mantelpiece. Now, it was Zarc's turn. He got up, walked over to Ray with the case, and presented the Moana doll to her.

"I didn't have time to wrap it", he stated.

"It's perfect", she stated, obviously having a different reaction than Celina did. Zarc simply shrugged as Ray gave him her gift. "It was homemade", she stated. It was a ceramic representation of his dragons and needless to say, she captured the likenesses of them pretty well. THAT'S when he realized why she wanted the Moana doll: She saw a little bit of herself in Moana, particularly with Zarc.

"Hey, Ray?"

"Hmmmmm?"

"Is that miseltoe?"

"I believe so." Zarc looked around and noticed Leo wasn't watching, which was good news for him.

"He's not looking", he noted.

"Who?"

"Your father. I'd rather kiss you without his gaze hovering over me right now", Zarc stated and sure enough, proceeded to dip Ray and kiss her, going in for seconds. In both their heads, their counterparts were probably doing the same thing, except for maybe one set.

"I never really got the 'kissing under the miseltoe' rule!" Yuri stated.

"Me neither", Celina said. Suddenly, Yuri noticed where they were sitting at had miseltoe under it. He shugged.

"Why not?" he stated, grabbing & dipping Celina and kissing her in the process. Yes, it was a Merry Christmas indeed.

 **AN: That's It! That's It! Happy Holidays and R &R!**


End file.
